Bed blocking still remains at Peterborough City Hospital despite a “herculean effort” by staff.

On Tuesday (April 12) 13 operations were cancelled as medically fit patients were unable to be sent home as they did not have appropriate support.

Last month, the Labour group on Peterborough City Council called for £600,000 to be spent on tackling bed blocking.

However, the ruling Conservatives voted down the motion as they said bed blocking was not a problem.

Speaking yesterday, Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, cabinet member for adult social care, said the delayed transfers at the city hospital were not attributable to adult social care. He added: “Even if we had put the money in it would not have been spent.”

Cllr Ed Murphy, Labour and Co-operative member, said: “My proposal would have cut unnecessary admissions and re-admissions. Health professions, doctor and staff unions, the public, council officers and the media know I was right and all the evidence proves this.”

Neil Doverty, chief operating officer at Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Due to a ‘herculean’ effort by staff across the trust, Peterborough City Hospital is no longer on ‘Significant Internal Incident’ status.

“However, we still have a high number of patients who are waiting to be discharged because they are medically fit to leave hospital. We are unable to discharge them because they have a range of social and healthcare requirements that need to be put in place before they can go home.

“These patients are from a wide geographical area, including Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland and Northamptonshire, and a number of different local authorities are responsible for providing these services.

“To reduce the number of patients awaiting discharge, we are liaising with our healthcare and community partners to enable these patients to return home as quickly as possible.

“So we can prioritise patients who need our urgent care, we continue to ask members of the public who need treatment for a minor illness or injury not to make the journey to our Emergency Department, but to seek alternative help:

. Call NHS 111, if you are unsure of the severity or urgency of your condition

. Make an appointment at your local GP surgery

. Visit your local chemist – your pharmacist can give advice

. Go to the Minor Injuries Unit at Stamford Hospital – open from 9am to 5pm weekdays

. Visit the Minor Illness and Injury Unit on Thorpe Road – open daily from 8am to 8pm

. “We apologise again to patients whose operations have been cancelled. We are now liaising with patients to re-book these.”